31st Meeting of the Task Force on CSITC

Monday, 18 April 2022 

Virtual 

8:00-10:30 AM (EST) 

2:00-2:30 PM (CEST) 

The Task Force on Commercial Standardisation of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC) conducted its 31st meeting on Monday, 18 April 2022, virtually.

Members Present 

  • Dr Marinus (René) van der Sluiis, Principal Consultant ,Textile Technical Services, Australia (Chair) 
  • Mr Axel Drieling, Faserinstitut Bremen, Germany
  • Mr Peter Wakefield, Wakefield Inspection Services and Chairman, Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC)
  • Mr Darryl Earnest, Deputy Administrator, USDA AMS, USA
  • Dr Jean Paul Gourlot, CIRAD Persyst, France
  • Ms. Gretchen Deatherage, Director Standardization, USDA, USA
  • Dr Mohammed Negm, Head of Spinning Research Department, Cotton Research Institute, Egypt
  • Prof. Suzan Husseini Sanad, Cotton Research Institute, Egypt
  • Mr Pardeep Kumar, Chairman Cotton Corporation of India, India

Observers 

  • Mr Karsten Froese, BBB/ICA Bremen
  • Dr Stuart Gordon, CSIRO Australia
  • Mr Peyman Dehkordi, Uster Technologies, USA
  • Mr Hossein Ghorashi, HMG Consulting

ICAC Secretariat 

  • Mr Kai Hughes, Executive Director
  • Mr Mike McCue, Director of Communications
  • Mr Kanwar Usman, Head of Textiles

Members Not Present 

  • Ms Mariana Carfagnini, Coordinator of the Textile Physical Unit of the Center for Textile Research, Argentina
  • Mr Ramiro Casoliba, Director Del Centro Intl, Argentina
  • Mr Gregory Parle, Australian Food and Fibre, Australia
  • Eng. Mohamed Khalil Khedr, Chairman CATGO – Cotton Arbitration & Testing General Organization, Egypt Dr Urania Kechagia, Consultant Cotton and Industrial Plants Institute, Greece
  • Prof. Iwona Frydrych, Vice President, Gdynia Cotton Association, Poland
  • Mr Fatih Dogan, Vice President, Mediterranean Textile and Raw materials Exporters Associations, Turkey
  • Mr Patrick Ilukat, Cotton Development Organization, Uganda

Due to the tragic passing of Mr Andrew Macdonald, long-time Chair of CSITC, Mr  Hughes, Executive Director, International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), initiated the proceedings of the 31st Meeting of the Task Force on Commercial Standardisation of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC).

Mr  Hughes said that the ICAC has hired its first-ever Head of Textiles, Mr Kanwar Usman, who previously was Director General of the Textile Division in Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce. He has more than 21 years of experience in various sectors of the textile value chain including working in a textile mill, textiles university and a brand, the last fourteen of which were spent working as Director and Director General. His received an MBA from the University of East London and a Bachelor of Science degree in Textile Engineering from the National Textile University in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

1. Adoption of Agenda 

The agenda for 31st meeting of the Task Force on CSITC was adopted.

2. Tribute to Mr Andrew Macdonald 

Mr  Hughes paid tribute to Mr Andrew Macdonald and said that he was the most amazing husband, father, grandfather, and friend. Mr Macdonald was the CSITC Chair since its founding in 2003. Mr  Macdonald chaired thirty meetings of the CSITC during his tenure as Chair. Mr Hughes highlighted his extraordinary achievements. Which also included serving as Chair of Spinning Committee for the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF).

3. Election of a New Chair 

Mr Hughes then referred the working paper (Annexure-I) to elect a new Chair and Vice Chair for CSITC. Mr  Wakefield asked whether we really need a Vice Chair, suggesting there could be technical advisors to assist the Chair as it was this year. Mr Drieling said that things were fine without a Vice Chair. Mr Hughes agreed and asked whether if there is anyone who wants to volunteer to be Chair. Mr Earnest proposed Dr van der Sluijs for the position and Dr van der Sluijsaccepted and thanked members for their vote of confidence.

4. Approval of the Minutes of 30th Meeting in Brisbane, Australia, December 2019 

The Task Force approved the minutes of 30th Meeting held in Brisbane, Australia, in December 2019.

5. Latest on latest Round Trial Results and Comparisons 

Mr Dreiling delivered a presentation, ‘CSITC Task Force Contributions’, which is the most important and regular feature of every meeting of the Task Force on CSITC. Mr Drieling shared the latest results from participation in the Round Trials and the marketing brochures for CSITC Round Trials, then provided background on the Round Trials. He added that every laboratory recieves an overall evaluation for all six properties.

Mr Drieling explained that the deviation between the laboratories, which is directly related to the evaluation of combined properties, has been steadily decreasing from the 0.5 recorded in 2007. The results in initial years got worst because new laboratories were participating and needed time for improvement. Since 2012, when number of participants were quite constant, results have been improving that means variation between the laboratories was decreasing and for the first time results decreased to 0.3. He said there was a visible improvement from 2010 to the present.

The best instrument was at 0.15, and that in each Round  it was not the same instrument. Mr Drieling informed that 25% of the instruments median was close of 0.25 and that 50% of the instruments was less than 0.3 and 75% of the instruments had a  median of 0.35. He said that in 2015 the level of  0.5 was achieved by the better half of the laboratories, but thatthis was now not sufficient to be in 75% of the best laboratories.

Mr Drieling noted that variation in results  between laboratories had also been steadily decreasing specifically in micronaire, strength, length and colour in terms of Rd and +b and that the evaluation of single properties now is  0.32.

The standard deviation for micronaire has improved and in 2007 it was close to 0.08; and now it was a little over 0.04. Similarly, results have improved for strength and length. In the case of uniformity there has been a slight improvement, but it was already  good. The Colour Rd values were initially high because new laboratories were joining the Round Trials program, but improvement has been made. He said that positive results have also been achieved for Short Fibre Index as well.

Mr Drieling said that there was an increase in the participating laboratories from 2007 to 2012, and mostly the participation is high during first and second Round Trials. Since 2018-19, the participation has continuously been decreasing and this decline has to be stopped. He shared that the number of laboratories participating is now almost the same to when  this program was started in 2007, although the total number of instruments have increased. Mr Drieling informed that laboratories of the countries having high participation are United States, Brazil, and India with 17, 14 and 13 respectively. He also mentioned that some  countries have already reached the optimum level, such as in the case of Australia where the number of participating laboratories seems low i.e., four, however, they only have four laboratories in Australia. In the case of Brazil, all the laboratories are not included but all laboratories involved in cotton production and cotton classing for production are part of the CSITC Round Trials. He also gave an overview of the sector to which the laboratory has been providing the services. He said that the vast majority of the instruments are providing services to the production / classing / cotton associations and if we add control laboratories then 55 instruments are from this sector. Importantly, he raised concern that only 5 instruments have been participating from the spinning sector but that that classing instrument manufacturers have 6 instruments in CSITC Round Trials.

Lastly, he mentioned that to attract the textiles value chain and provide information various brochures have been developed whichshould be shared with members.

Mr Hughes then opened the forum for questions and comments. Dr  van der Sluijs asked that improvement in results that could be due to newer instruments such as the Uster-1000, especially in Rd and +b value.

Dr Gourlot asked that how many laboratories are working in each country. Mr Drieling said it is possible but if we look at the spinning sector then it is difficult to get these numbers but there would be many machines installed in spinning sector rather than in production. He further said that by having larger samples, and 30 tests per instrument on the sample, reduces variation.

Mr Hughes thanked Mr Drieling and commentedthat his presentation provided a good basis for further discussions.

6. Results of Short Fibre Index (SFI) measurements by Ms Gretchen Deatherage 

Ms Deatherage said we still do not have an official standard for calibration of SFI and that Mr Drieling had shared the information on SFI and  showed that currently where we are on Short Fiber Measurements.

7. Update on Instrument Testing Interpretation Guidelines by Dr Jean Paul Gourlot 

Dr Gourlot said that the ‘interpretation guide’ explains how to interpret data provided by testing machines for cotton characteristics such as: micronaire, length, strength, colour, trash, moisture, spinning consistency index, neps, and stickiness. This free guide was released in April 2020 in English, Portuguese and French and is available on ICAC, ITMF, CSITC and CIRAD websites. He said there were plans to periodically review/revise the guideline, so it was important that the members provide feedback. Regarding translation into other languages, Dr Negm offered to translate the guideline into Arabic. Mr Hughes thanked Dr Gourlot and said it was a lot of work and that  people would provide  feedback and comments on Testing Interpretation Guidelines.

8. Progress report of International Committee on Cotton Testing Methods (ICCTM) of International Textile Manufacturers Association (ITMF) 

Mr Drieling noted that the mandate of ICCTM is general in nature, and it encourages research to develop commercially useful tests, recognition of instruments and testing methods and harmonise cotton testing results. He said that at the next meeting –  scheduled for September 2022 – that one of main topics would be recognition of testing instruments for specific fibre characteristics.

9. Reports from Technical Centres and Regions 

Mr Drieling said that two Regional Technical Centres (RTC) were established under the Common Fund Project – — one for East and Southern Africa in Tanzania and the other for West and Central Africa in Mali. Mr Drieling added that they will contact the RTCs and get feedback on their recent activities. Dr Gourlot asked for a brief on RTC in Brazil; Mr Drieling said there is an RTC in Brazil which is doing extraordinary. He added that it has continuous systems of checking/auditing by the Central Laboratory.

In Argentina there is no central organisation to coordinate entire areas of the country. Mr Hughes noted that since his last visit to Argentina, the main goal should be the creation of a single entity that controls all laboratories for auditing and quality assurance.

10.

  • Increasing Participation in Round Trials  

    Mr Ghorashi explained that when he met with the CEO of Uster, the objective was to provide the Round Trial free of charge to users. It was a good idea but some customers who were not interested in the programme requesated for a discount from the price of the equipment instead, so it was never fully implemented.

    Mr Ghorashi said that participation of instrument manufacturers was crucial so there should be a financial angle for instrument manufacturers, such as providing service contracts for the instruments, and that there should be a vehicle for a quick and instantaneous feedback to HVI users about their performance . Most laboratories collect the data on a computer so CSITC could install software on the instruments to analyse the test results of the Round Trial and inform users if there was a issue.

    Mr Hughes then asked Mr Usman to deliver his presentation. Mr Usman reviewed past efforts to increase Round Trial participation, such as creating the marketing brochures, and shared the statistics for cotton production and yarn trade as well as the approximate number of HVIs in the world and the number of instruments taking part in Round Trials.

    Mr Usman  shared the ICAC’s initial idea for promoting Round Trials: Make it a ‘brand’ that adds credibility to the product because it ensures that everyone in the cotton textile value chain gets the right price.

    The other idea was that the in a bottom-up approach, spinning was considered the ‘last’ sector. However, he pointed out that the majority of sustainability efforts in the textiles value chain has been led by retailers and brands, so they should be made aware that cotton utilised in manufacturing of their yarn should be tested on CSITC-tested instruments to help farmers get the right price.

    Turning to the new Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Mr Usman said fifty-three associations have already joined and 47 more were considering it. The CSITC can also be discussed at these forums to get feedback and also to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to highlight the importance of Round Trials. He concluded his presentation by emphasising the need to brand CSITC Round Trials.

    Mr Hughes thanked Mr Usman for his presentation and said the key to success would be getting spinners and spinning associations to understand the value of participating in CSITC and that rewarding them in some way would be crucial. He pointed out that CSITC has been operating at a loss for the last few years.

    On a question about giving top-performing organisations some kind of recognition for excellent performance, Mr Drieling replied that results of the Round Trials are strictly confidential, adding that some of the variation comes from the materials, which cannot be controlled by the laboratories. Mr Hughes proposed having discussions with instrument manufacturers to increase their participation and engagement.

    Mr Dehkordi said it is an issue of awareness, a lack of marketing and advertising. Several members mentioned the importance of trust and that being a CSITC Round Trial participant can help organisations earn that with their customers.

    Dr Gourlot asked  Mr Dehkordi that is it kind of coaching you want to include in this CSITC program. Mr Dehkordi replied that in some of discussion he had with Mr Ghorashi about more involvement of Uster with the program and offering our customers it really made sense. Now what the customers would be thinking that we have received our results from Mr Drieling, and know our ranking but what we do next, and you can call it coaching or consultation service to help these laboratories to go to next level. Mr  Wakefield added a comment that he agreed with Mr Dehkordi as we have seen this at a practical level with a shipment arrived at a mill and mill has drawn a sample and tested on their instrument and filed a claim, and merchant did not accept the claim and asked us to visit and take the sample and check at our machine or send this to Bremen. We went there and did the testing but also looked at the laboratory and it was brilliant, and we could not find any reason and it may be a bad day for operator or something went wrong, but at other instances we have seen laboratories which are not operated properly so in reality we need to do something for such laboratories. Also, we need to teach the spinning mill that what is the advantage of ensuring that their cotton is tested properly, is there any financial benefit associated with it and similarly they have yarn testing equipment and how we can teach them that is there any financial gain or loss with this kind of testing and by operating in right manner will give you in long term higher profits. Mr Wakefield said that he did not know an answer yet.

    Mr Ghorashi said organizations you have mentioned are examples for the others, the answer to the question is by again posing a question that apart from those already participating who are to show and they are doing test and test until they get a good result. True value is not just feeling good, feeling good is part of it, it has to be contribution that this program brought to them. He said that he does not know that what this program really brings for the existing participants. He said that he has participated in these meeting from the beginning, and the only progress that he has seen has been in data collection and processing, credit goes to Mr Drieling. Further, he

    mentioned the offensive and defensive strategies are being mixed up and sometimes mistakenly combined. He said that, in his opinion, the value of “quarterly recognitions” was not high causing additional expenses, and possibly result in bad blood amongst participants. This is in addition to the confidentiality issues raised by Mr Drieling. He further added that the defensive strategy should be devised around the reasons of those who opt out the program. These reasons should be analyzed and corrective actions planed. Of course, the reasons mentioned by Mr Drieling (stopped government support, political issues, lack of funds, etc.) fall outside of the control of this body. The comments on an offensive strategy, i.e., presentations, brochures, etc. were good, but could not convince new users. He stated that the answer lies in the reasons that existing users stay in the program. These reasons must be more than just “good feelings”. There must be concrete financial gains in terms of trade (trust factor), gains in operational efficiencies due to confidence in data, etc.

    Mr Usman asked from Mr  Ghorashi that is there any program by Uster which tells the laboratory of the spinning mill (in some areas ginner is not providing any result to spinning mill) that your instrument is working properly as in case of any defect the spinning mills will either by under or over paying. Mr Ghorashi  replied that Uster does not has any such program and basically the responsibility is with the user. They have the option of participating in the Round Trial or they have their calibration cotton and if they find any problem then they can contactUster to resolve their issues. So the whole initiative starts with the user and Uster becomes a respondent to the issues of the user and machines, and with the best of my knowledge there is no a proactive program which checks the performance of instrument regularly.. Drvan der Sluijs commented that Uster also provides service contracts in which technician comes and checks the instruments and now you have qualification cotton from USDA, and this gives you more confidence on your instrument and from all these discussions we come to the point that everyone is talking about the value. Involving brands and retailers is a good idea but it’s a long term approach and may take ten years or twenty years. We need to think what we need to do now. We are not going to solve it now, but it is good to have a conversation. Mr Wakefield said the problem is that few laboratories are  taking the service contracts, so they are not having the constant maintenance of their instruments. Mr  Hughes asked that there must be a cost for Uster for calibration cotton and can they use CSITC program as a replacement of their calibration cotton and that this would promote CSITC. Dr van der Sluijs said that they are so separate and HVI at times require calibration checks a  couple of times in day.

    Mr  Ghorashi  mentioned that  there was always hope for future and technology development and what Mr Usman was talking about was possible through an intelligent testing instrument in ours was an instrument and we kicked that around with the available technology which was far fetched and also with the budget that was for development but ideally you want to have a instrument which checks its self you want to have internal diagnostics, to look at the performance of various components hardware, software calibration and they will let the user know that something is not working. But with the current number of instruments, it would probably not be feasible for instrument manufacturers to invest money to develop such intelligent instruments but this is an ideal situation.

    To help explain the value, Mr Drieling said we already have flyers for spinners and traders and offered to work with Mr McCue to develop them further. Mr Hughes suggested that Mr McCue speak with members of the PSAC to help formulate a strategy.

    11. To decide the venue/date for the 32nd meeting of the CSITC, in-person/hybrid 

    Mr Drieling proposed that the next meeting may be held the day before the start of with the Bremen Conference, which is scheduled for 29-30 September 2022. Mr Hughes pointed out that it would give people an opportunity to meet in person and get back to normal.

    12. Administrative Matters 
    13. No administrative matters were discussed. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks from and to the Chair.